The Teachable Heart

As I type, I’m sitting in my parents’ home which is in the small town I was born and raised in. When I’m here, it’s common for my mind to flood with memories. I think of my days in elementary school, Jr. High, and High School. Overall, it was a great time to live in a small town.

Our family didn’t lock our house at night; we frequently left the keys in the ignition of our cars. When we left the house to play, our parents didn’t worry about who we were with or about strangers nabbing us from the park or the swimming pool. And every Sunday, most families were present at one of the many churches in town. The vast majority of the people I knew believed in God and had a reverential fear of Him.

While that may still be true in this particular town, it’s not true in most of Western civilization today. I truly cannot believe the massive shifts in our culture that I’ve seen just in my lifetime. So much of what was taken for granted for being “right” when I was younger is now vehemently argued as being “wrong” – and vice versa. I sometimes wonder if I’m living in a bad dream. And it all seemed to happen so fast.

While the cultural shifts have seemed sudden to me, they are nothing compared to the shift described in Deuteronomy 9. There, Moses recalled some of the highlights (and lowlights) of Israel’s journey after leaving Egypt. One of the lowest points was this, “At the end of the forty days and forty nights, the LORD gave me [Moses] the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant. Then the LORD told me, ‘Go down from here at once, because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have become corrupt. They have turned away quickly from what I commanded them and have made an idol for themselves’” (vv. 11-12).

Immediately before Moses ascended Mt. Sinai the people had sworn to obey all that God had already told them (Exodus 19:8). They had heard His voice and they had trembled in fear. But 40 days later – just FORTY DAYS – they were building an idol. As I contemplate their ultra-rapid descent into corruption, I find myself grateful for the relatively long run Christianity has had in our land. I’m thankful for the Lord’s patience with me as a man and with a nation that has slowly turned its back upon Him. May we be wise enough, and humble enough, to turn back to Him while there is still time. –Dave

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